Descending
by Karechan
Summary: Takes place immediately following the climax of Ballad of Fallen Angels. Loyal Lin rushes into the church to help Vicious following the grenade explosion.


Title: Descending

Author: Akanue

Fandom: Cowboy Bebop

Rating: Teen

Warning(s): None

Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebop or its characters. They belong to Studio Sunrise, Shinichiro Watanabe, and other licensors and distributors. This is a not-for-profit fan work.

Descending

The explosion rocked the church, pitching the floor and almost causing Lin to fall to his knees.

He had no idea what was going on, though he was beginning to suspect there was more at play here than he'd initially thought. Vicious hadn't been exceedingly clear as to the parameters of this mission. All Lin knew was that a target was going to be at the indicated location, nearly Vicious' entire squad had been deployed, and bait had been secured to ensure the target showed up as expected.

As evident by the explosion, things seemed to have gotten out of hand.

In actuality, Lin shouldn't have even been in the church. He had been stationed a block away on lookout duty as part of a perimeter that had been set up to watch for cops or other signs of interference. His orders had been to keep watch, not move from that spot, and not ask questions.

These orders had confused Lin, an elite operative assigned to Vicious. It made no sense for him to be on what was essentially rookie duty when Vicious, the man he had been charged with protecting and the man who may one day lead the Red Dragon Syndicate, was clearly in potential danger.

Less than five minutes ago, Lin had been pacing at a street corner, trying to keep watch but having a harder time concentrating than usual. Thoughts of Vicious' safety went through his head as he tried to fend off memories of standing on dozens of similar Martian street corners, shivering in the cold and begging for money or food so he and his brother could eat.

It had been the Red Dragons, specifically then-partners Spike and Vicious, who had rescued the twins from that fate. Lin knew that was a debt he could never repay, although he could do nothing but try.

Those had been the golden days, when Lin had been younger and more naive to the true nature of the Dragons, Spike and Vicious were still friends, and the warmth of Mao Yenrai and Julia could be felt throughout the halls of the headquarters.

But then Spike and Julia had left and Mao Yenrai had died and Vicious had become more closed off and colder than ever. Even Lin and his brother Shin had started to drift apart due to festering differences of opinion.

The eruption of gunfire in the church, which was just visible over a low rooftop, had mercifully interrupted his dark thoughts. He felt like he was going to tear himself in two as conflicting sides of himself battled it out. Should he stay, as he had been told to do, or go and help in any way he could?

Before he'd even realized what he was doing, he'd taken off at a dead sprint, his feet pounding the pavement in time with his accelerated heartbeat.

Lin had always been a fast runner - it had been essential for survival at many points in his life - and he'd covered the distance from his position to the church in just under a minute. Without hesitation, he went in through the back of the building, sliding his gun from its place within his coat and holding it at the ready.

Then the explosion happened.

Disoriented, but managing to remain on his feet, he pressed on, searching for Vicious. Bodies covered the floor and the stairs. Bits of dust and debris trickled down from the damaged upstairs and at one point a larger section came loose. For a brief moment Lin was afraid the whole building might collapse, but the old stone structure was sturdy and it held.

Finally, he arrived where all the action had clearly taken place. The upper balcony was in ruins - charred black and smoking badly. Most of the railing had been blown clear. Bodies were everywhere.

On the main floor lay Vicious, who must have jumped from the balcony in an attempt to avoid the worst of the explosion. It had been a long drop - Lin could easily imagine him descending like an angel falling from Heaven in a blaze of glorious fire.

"Vicious!" Lin called as he saw the still form of the gray-haired man who had orchestrated this. Who had once been best friends with Spike before everything had fallen apart. Without thinking, Lin ran over and started checking to determine the extent of the damage. There was a nasty gash on his head that oozed blood, and his leg was twisted in an unnatural angle.

Slowly, as if responding to the undesired human touch, Vicious regained consciousness.

"Oh, Vicious," Lin said as soon as he saw the other man's eyes open. "You're awake. Thank goodness. What happened?"

"A beast that was too much to handle," Vicious replied. "I'll be alright. Just call for medical assistance."

Lin stood and stepped away, though refusing to move too far from Vicious' side. He pulled out his communicator and sent out an emergency request for assistance to any medical personnel affiliated with the Red Dragons who were within range. Perhaps some of the other men here had survived as well, though judging by the state of the carnage, he wouldn't count on it.

He stood there, watching Vicious out of the corner of his eye, who sat quietly after having pulled himself up into a sitting position with little more than a grimace. A long time passed as they waited for backup to arrive. Lin wished there was something he could do but he had little medical training, and Vicious wouldn't let him try besides.

Instead, Lin found his cursed thoughts wandering yet again. He didn't know who had caused all this, but he had a sneaking suspicion. One he wouldn't voice out loud. But that was a consideration for another time.

Words could never truly explain why he had chosen to work under Vicious after Spike had left. But somehow, he could sense that Vicious was the one who was hurting, deeper than Lin could even imagine. Vicious had lost everyone and everything that had ever truly mattered to him. For that reason alone, Lin wanted to stay by the man's side and support him, no matter what ultimately came of it.

It was his duty and his honor.


End file.
